UPN moves Smackdown to Friday Night

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

UPN has just announced their fall schedule and they have moved Smackdown to Friday nights

 

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/...5394|1|,00.html

 

 

Thoughts ?

[claydude14 0]

This sucks. I'm never home on Friday nights. And I had gotten used to Thursday as the 2nd wrestling night. And I'm a Smackdown! brand fan. At least I have Media Center (tivo like function).

[Mearl267 0]

Can't say there ratings will drop, because a lot of wrestling fans (myself included) are home Friday night anyways. Friday night tv sucks too, so I'm all for it.

[Black Lushus 0]

well that was an obvious move...

[Lord of The Curry 0]

RIP Smackdown.

[spman 0]

For a show like Smackdown, a move like that is ratings death.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

That is going to suck where I am because it'll constantly get delayed for baseball

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I'm not a big fan of this 'cause I'm never home on Friday nights. That's already the weekend anyway (in most people's minds). I think it should stay to a weekday.

[cabbageboy 0]

Perhaps this is just a printing error?

[Placebo Effect 0]

Perhaps this is just a printing error?

Nope.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

this is one of those deals where they kinda want to get rid of it, so they deliberatly move it to Fridays so they can point and say "bad ratings, sorry, gotta go).

 

HHH knows that tactic well

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Trade Eddy, Rey, London and JBL to RAW and let the show die with Cena on top.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Altogether?

 

On The Score, which broadcasts it in Canada, it's just the 11pm replay moving to Friday. They didn't say anything about the 7 pm broadcast.

[Guest nokia]

Will wwe still have smackdown tapings on tuesdays or switch it to wednesday?

[Aero 0]

I'm either out or working on Fridays most of the time, so it'll be hard to watch. Hopefully USA picks it up and can move it back to Thursdays.

[iggymcfly 0]

I can't believe the WWE would even agree to this. They'd be better off moving Smackdown to WGN than they would be letting UPN put it on Friday night.

 

I mean that just screams "crap television". I guess UPN's trying to punish the WWE for putting all their focus on Raw, but I still don't understand the move.

 

I mean isn't Smackdown still one of UPN's highest rated shows? The idea that they'd take that and move it to the second worst TV night of the week is just ridiculous.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

If Smackdown! was made LIVE on Fridays, what do you think the ratings would do?

[KingPK 0]

Friday nights are ratings death (look at the now cancelled Law & Order: Trial By Jury), and besides, the Boston UPN affiliate shows Red Sox baseball on Friday nights and I'm willing to bet others show baseball or something as well, so that doesn't help things.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Friday night wrestling isn't a deathspot...right Paul E?

 

I don't really have much of an opinion of the switch, I don't think it'll help ratings any. But I always tape Smackdown and watch it the next day anyway.

[Fro 0]

This is a death timeslot. It'll be interesting to see how the ratings hold up.

 

On the other hand, there's a lot less competition in the slot than Thursdays.

[iggymcfly 0]

If you read the article, it basically says that wrestling fans are such losers they'll be home on Friday night anyway, so the change won't hurt anything, whereas their "real" programs need to target their audience during the week.

[Jericholic82 0]

why is it death? I hate that idea. Thats why all the shows I like are constantly shifted to fridays and then canceled (recetly Third watch and now 8 simple rules, last year boston public was put to death on friday). Considering I usually am home on Fridays(I'm not much of a go-out on fri night person) this isnt much of a move. However my upn (KCOP 13 LA) sometimes shows Dodgers games, so if theres a friday game it might be postponed but no biggee.

 

And if you read the article, it shows that WWE wasnt even informed of the move,but they have no contorl over it. what will they do when the contract runs out next fall? I guess the split will end sometime in 06.

[what 0]

If Smackdown! was made LIVE on Fridays, what do you think the ratings would do?

No difference whatsoever.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Someone in WWE Legal must have missed the fine print on that contract. UPN should have moved it to Mondays to really screw around w/ Vince.

[humongous2002 0]

Trade Eddy, Rey, London and JBL to RAW and let the show die with Cena on top.

There's a name that doesn't belong there with all the real SD talent and I guess UPN needed thursdays available so they could give us more comedy gold like Girlfriend reruns and the return of Homeboys from Outer space.

[SuperJerk 0]

I think its been made abundantly clear over the last 10 years that UPN is a joke of a network with no idea how to build an audience. They're only even on the air 10 hours a week. Their 2 hours of WWE is 20% of their programming!

[Guest news_gimmick]

Won't affect my viewing at all, but for most it will. I can't recall, but how many more years is WWE under contract to be on UPN? To me this spells the beginning of the end for them broadcasting on UPN.

[KingPK 0]

This will be the last year of their contract.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Someone in WWE Legal must have missed the fine print on that contract. UPN should have moved it to Mondays to really screw around w/ Vince.

dude that would absolutely rock.

 

of course it would wreak havok with WWE's business, but you have to think the raw/smackdown thing would gain tons of intensity (which WWE would probably kill with bad booking as per usual but whatever).

[DerangedHermit 0]

Friday nights are ratings death (look at the now cancelled Law & Order: Trial By Jury), and besides, the Boston UPN affiliate shows Red Sox baseball on Friday nights and I'm willing to bet others show baseball or something as well, so that doesn't help things.

WWOR (UPN NYC affiliate) shows Yankees (blech!) games on Friday nights. And there's probably more too.